Reflections on America: Tocqueville, Weber and Adorno in the United States

At a time when so many cracks have emerged within the imagined
community of ‘the West', this important new book, by one of
the leading social scientists in Europe, examines the intellectual
history of comparing Europe and the United States. Claus Offe
considers the perspectives adopted by three of Europe’s
greatest social scientists – Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber
and Theodor W. Adorno – in their comparative writings on
Europe.
While traveling, studying and working in the US, all three
constantly looked back to their European origins, trying to
decipher from their American experience what the future may hold
for Europe, be it for better or worse. Alexis de Tocqueville, the
French aristocrat, observed the functioning of American democracy
with a mix of admiration, envy and deep concerns about the fate of
liberty in the ‘democratic age'. Max Weber, the German
sociologist, reported enthusiastically about the youthful energy he
found in the United States, which, however, he saw as gradually
succumbing to the stifling tendencies of European
bureaucratization. Theodor W. Adorno, the critical theorist and
refugee from Nazi Germany, observed with a sense of despair the
workings of the American ‘culture industry’ which he
equated to the totalitarian experience of Europe, only to switch to
a much more favorable picture upon his return to Germany.
Europe and the US are conventionally assumed to share the same
trajectory and develop according to some common pattern of
‘occidental rationalism', with the observed differences
resulting from mere lags and relative advances on one side or the
other. In this insightful book, Offe questions the relevance of
this paradigm to transatlantic relations today.

A highly topical book which examines the intellectual history
of comparing Europe and the United States.

Claus Offe considers the perspectives adopted by three of
Europe's greatest social scientists - Alexis de Tocqueville, Max
Weber and Theodor W. Adorno - in their comparative writings on
Europe and the US.

Written by one of the leading social scientists of Europe.

Questions the relevance of the paradigm of the shared political
and social development of Europe and the US to transatlantic
relations today.

“Reflections on America is simultaneously an excellent
contribution to sociological theory and to historical-comparative
research.”Sociological Review

“A concise, rich account of three salient European
socio-theoretical perspectives on America and their implications
for Europe.”Matthias Benzer, British Journal of Sociology

“The author offers valuable insights on American
exceptionalism and its consequences for domestic and international
politics ... For readers more interested in current developments in
American politics, the appeal of the book lies in Offe’s
insights about the contribution of foreign policy to the
effectiveness of the American melting pot and to social
cohesion.”Álvaro Morcillo, British Journal of
Sociology

“In this elegant and inspiring book, Claus Offe shows how
America time and again has served Europeans as a screen on which to
project their own visions of society, revealing as much about the
old continent as about the new world.”Abram de Swaan, Amsterdam School of Social
Research

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